


Avidbeader's Sheithmas 2019

by avidbeader



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, But it's all fluff, Christmas Fluff, Don't copy to another site, Honeymoon, Ice Skating, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Reunions, Separations, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, holiday fluff, winter fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:40:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21938374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avidbeader/pseuds/avidbeader
Summary: A collection of ficlets written for the Sheith Holiday Card Exchange 2019 and the cards I sent to my Sheith fandom friends. Many thanks to Feit for managing the card exchange!Not beta'ed at the time of posting. Each story will be updated once Latart has had the opportunity to polish them up.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 52
Kudos: 33





	1. Something Unique

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1: My first thought in writing this was simply to get Shiro and Keith to a very snowy place for their honeymoon. I considered places like Bariloche in Argentina before reminding myself that a holiday fic should be set in December, and once I went to the Northern Hemisphere I zeroed in on Iceland thanks to seeing the Netflix series "Sense8". And from there, it was obvious that Shiro and Keith would be drawn to the Northern Lights as an attraction.
> 
> The only downside to writing fics like these is that my bucket list of places to visit keeps growing.
> 
> This was the fic I included in the holiday cards I sent to the Sheith people I had addresses for. Maybe next year I'll remember to put up a Google form and collect addresses.
> 
> Happy holidays to all my fellow VLD people!

#

It wasn’t that they had never seen snow before, but neither Keith nor Shiro had had much opportunity for it growing up.

In the Southwest, snow depended on altitude and Keith’s childhood home had been in a low-lying plain. There were numerous locations near Tokyo with heavy snowfall, but Shiro’s grandfather had already been infirm when he assumed guardianship of Shiro and travel was a rare experience. They both arrived at the Garrison, whose desert location had been chosen specifically for the low probability of weather-related interference in conducting flights and launches.

So when they began talking about what to do for a honeymoon after their December wedding, Veronica had immediately suggested a Swiss chalet where they could ski all day and soak the resulting sore muscles in outdoor hot tubs all evening. The idea of skiing didn’t appeal to either of them, but the thought of snow and lots of it… That did.

Input from their friends reached very unwelcome proportions, with recommendations spanning dozens of planets. Shiro and Keith finally retreated one evening to the commissary on the _Atlas_ , determined to finalize their choices. Keith was arguing for Japan so Shiro would have a chance to visit distant relatives. Shiro liked the idea of the Dolomites, but Keith was resisting it reflexively because it had been Lance’s suggestion.

As they continued to debate, a notification pinged on their tablets. Shiro glanced at his, annoyed, then focused on the sender and subject line.

Leifsdóttir had sent them an offer of her cousin’s home in Siglufjörður, a house he habitually rented out in the winter, and a few pictures of the Northern Lights. The spectacular colors streaking across the night sky immediately attracted both of them. They looked up at one another and smiled, seeing the agreement in the other’s eyes.

******************************************************************

The house was rustic, but updated with the latest amenities and technology. It sat a little higher up the mountain slope from the town proper. Shiro stretched out on the extra-long sofa, Keith sprawled on top of him. Firelight from the gas logs flickered across their faces as they looked through the tourist information Leifsdóttir’s cousin kept for visitors to Iceland. They already had a running list of things to do: Shiro was curious about the town’s history and its beginnings as a fishing village, while Keith was ready to rent a pair of snowmobiles and race. They were strongly reminded of the evernight of being in space – this late in December, they had maybe three hours of sunlight a day.

After checking the weather reports and planning accordingly, they bundled up against the cold one evening and left the cabin. They climbed the slope of the mountain to circle around and get away from the town’s light pollution, following a fenced trail. Fresh snow had fallen earlier that day and it creaked under their boots as they walked. Shiro reached over to take Keith’s hand and squeeze it through their mittens and Keith squeezed back. Stars sparkled in the velvet blue of the sky above. They paused a moment to look back at the town, inviting with its warm illumination and splashes of color from holiday lights.

Shiro was watching his step as they rounded an outcropping, but looked up when Keith gasped. Above and to their right, ribbons of green as bright as the Green Lion’s energy beams wove across the night sky. The space between glowed a deep violet and where the green thinned out they could see hints of dusky rainbow shades. Silver stars shone through the colors like a spill of glitter.

Keith pulled Shiro closer, tucking himself under Shiro’s left arm where he still just barely fit. Shiro leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek. For a moment they simply gazed in silence at the light rippling and flowing through the darkness above them. Finally, Keith spoke in a hushed tone.

“You know, even though we’ve seen hundreds of planets and cosmic events, I can’t think of any time that I saw something like this. Like, there’s got to be other planets where gaseous atoms are running into each other and giving off light. But I can’t remember seeing or being told that anywhere else has this.”

Shiro thought about that for a moment, then replied, “I think every planet has something about it that makes it unique. Just like every person is unique.” He reached across and laid his prosthetic hand on Keith’s hip, drawing him in and laying his cheek against the heavy beanie covering Keith’s head. “We’re lucky to have this as a something unique.”

Keith turned his head and nuzzled into Shiro’s scarf, humming his agreement.

Shiro turned, bringing his lips to rest against Keith’s temple. “Just like I’m lucky to have the only Keith in this universe as my husband.”

He could sense the impulse to protest, but Keith swallowed the argument down, saying instead, “I’m lucky, too. I’m so lucky.”

“And now we get to be lucky together, for the rest of our lives.”


	2. Petals of Red and White

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of ficlets written for the Sheith Holiday Card Exchange 2019 and the cards I sent to my Sheith fandom friends. Many thanks to Feit for managing the card exchange!
> 
> Not beta'ed at the time of posting. Each story will be updated once Latart has had the opportunity to polish them up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2: The wishes of the recipient of this Sheith Card Exchange fic included older Keith/older Shiro (but not S8's design) and flower meanings.

#

It was the worst possible timing.

Fifteen years after the victory over Honerva, twelve years after Allura’s triumphant return, a distress call from Arus came through. A group of druids had built up strength and resources in a system beyond the Coalition’s borders and were now launching attacks against member planets. They were calling in all available forces to stop the incursion before it could get any worse.

It was four days before Christmas on Earth.

It was twelve hours since they had permanently deactivated Shiro’s old prosthesis as the first step to replacing it with the new full-arm model that Pidge and Allura had designed. They were in the process of integrating the crystal that connected him to the _Atlas_ with the new technology. There was no way that Shiro and the crew could assist in the counterattack.

With their limited options, Keith scrambled as many teams as possible: the current MFEs, the Vehicle Voltron Force (Pidge still hated that name even after ten years), and as many of the Blade of Marmora that could get there quickly enough. He stood next to the VVF command jet, waiting for James - the plan was to ride with him through Allura’s wormhole to the rendezvous point and take a Marmora fighter from there to the attack site. Hearing footsteps, he turned around, wondering why James’ pace was steady instead of hurried.

It was Shiro, keeping his current single hand behind his back.

“You’re supposed to be in the infirmary!” Keith blurted out.

“I know, and I’ll go back and rest, I promise. But I wanted to see you off.”

Keith bit his lip in understanding. He laid one hand on Shiro’s chest, still broad and firm even after so many years, and ran the other through his silver hair. Shiro had long since let his hair grow to his shoulders and usually pulled it away from his face into a neat ponytail.

“At least you’ll have both hands again when I get back.”

“I hope you’ll be back before we’re done,” Shiro rejoined. “And in that spirit, here.”

He brought his hand out, holding a large red flower with pointed petals. He tucked it into Keith’s hair, behind one ear where his braid would hold it in place. Keith raised a hand to touch it.

“Okay, yeah, poinsettias for Christmas, but why?”

“Poinsettias have a meaning: protection. I can’t be out there myself to help you, so I’m sending this with you.”

Keith gave a shaky smile. “We never stop trying to save each other, do we?”

“Wouldn't have it any other way.” Hearing voices behind them as the rest of the vehicle team entered the hangar, Shiro bent down and kissed Keith firmly. “Be safe out there.”

“Save some eggnog for me,” Keith replied, standing on tiptoe to touch their foreheads together.

********************

Keith was exhausted as he exited the conference room, thankful to have the debriefing done. It had been a long and hard three days, but the Coalition had stamped out the druid incursion. Casualties on their side had been minimal, but the fighting had been brutal at times, with the outcome still in the balance.

Until Keith had unexpectedly found a way to tap into the druids’ quintessence stores and begun teleporting himself to get in range to use his blade. Then he discovered he could throw lightning around just like they could and with better accuracy.

He still felt singed inside, as if he had taken on a dozen electric shocks in succession. His mother had spent much of the return journey fretting over the silver streaks that had appeared in his hair. But given that, for the first time in a long time, he’d been able to give his report without anyone interrupting or dismissing him, he’d take it.

He entered the quarters he shared with Shiro and stopped at the threshold. He’d lost track of time in the prolonged battle, but Allura had informed him that it was Christmas Eve as she activated the wormhole for their return. The small tree they had set up was lit and plasma candles burned safely through the room.

And there were a dozen flowers in pots set around their quarters, all large blossoms on single long stalks. He could see solid red, pure white, and some that were a peppermint mix of the two.

Shiro came out of their bedroom and hurried across to gather Keith up in his arms.

Keith responded to a few kisses, then squirmed. “Stop, stop! Let me look at you!”

Shiro laughed and stepped back, holding out both arms. He was shirtless and Keith could see the new prosthesis in full. It was a sleek silver and gray, with the blue crystal glow gleaming out through seams. The connection to his body was smooth across the shoulder. Keith took the hand and found it warm like a human touch. It moved with fluid grace as Shiro threaded their fingers together.

“How does it feel?”

“It feels great. I feel whole in a way that I haven’t felt in decades.”

“I’m glad.” Keith stepped forward to kiss him again.

They broke off to breathe and Shiro spoke, “Now, what’s this I hear about you suddenly becoming a wizard? Nadia couldn’t wait to broadcast that while you were in the debrief.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “I don’t know. Felt like the days of Voltron all over again, having new powers and features thrust at us by the lions and leaving us to juggle them and hope we don’t drop one.”

Shiro laughed again. “You were always the one who could figure things out fast, though.” He focused briefly on Keith’s hair, running a finger along one newly silver lock. “Proud of you. If you hadn’t been able to handle it, if you hadn’t been able to do it in the first place, this could have turned into a new war instead of one battle.”

Keith ducked, feeling the blush spread across his cheeks, and looked for a distraction. “”So, what’s with the flowers? Colleen run out of space in the greenhouse?”

“No, they’re for you. They’re amaryllises. They’re a traditional Christmas flower.” Shiro leaned down to kiss Keith once more. “They mean pride. I’m not kidding when I say I’m proud of you, Keith. I always have been. I always will be. Then, now, and forever.”


	3. Advance Presents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of ficlets written for the Sheith Holiday Card Exchange 2019 and the cards I sent to my Sheith fandom friends. Many thanks to Feit for managing the card exchange!
> 
> Not beta'ed at the time of posting. Each story will be updated once Latart has had the opportunity to polish them up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3: This recipient was easy - they love Sheith in all forms!

#

The first Christmas after war’s end was hosted by the Holts. The house glittered with lights thanks to Matt and Pidge’s technical expertise. As infrastructure was not fully restored for the long-distance shipping of conifers, Colleen had found a local garden center with an Olkari employee who could enlarge a potted triangle ficus and convince it to fill out until there were enough branches to hold lights and ornaments. All the guests had arrived and gifts were piled high in a corner, awaiting Christmas morning.

Matt had a marathon of old holiday specials playing on the vidscreen while everyone socialized and enjoyed hot beverages. Allura was discovering the delights of peppermint hot chocolate, while Lance hugged her from behind. Hunk was passing around the results of his baking marathon. Shiro had pulled Keith to the loveseat, keeping him pressed tight next to him while using his floating arm to fetch them mulled wine, one cup at a time.

As the credits rolled on one of the holiday specials, Sam stood and clapped his hands for attention. “Okay, everyone, it’s time to bring back a longstanding Holt family tradition! Advance presents!”

Coran lowered his glass of eggnog, wiping his mustache. “What in the world are advance presents?”

Pidge dove for the stash of brightly-wrapped gifts and began reading tags. “Mom and Dad always picked out one present each for Matt and me to open on Christmas Eve. Something small and sometimes something that went with a bigger gift that we had to wait to open. Like maybe the Christmas Eve gift would be a videogame and we’d find a system for it the next day.” She held up a silver gift bag. “Lance! Okay for Allura to open this one tonight?”

Lance shot her a thumbs-up and Pidge passed the present to her. Colleen came forward to help and soon everyone had a box or bag to open. They took turns to give everyone a chance to admire whatever was revealed.

Allura cooed over the extra-large muffs that would accommodate her pointed ears. Coran’s eyes lit up at the gourmet coffee selection from Hunk. When it was Keith’s turn, he unwrapped a narrow box and opened it to discover a silver cable chain. He held the necklace up, looking at Shiro in bemusement as it caught the lights and drew appreciative comments from Colleen and Allura.

Shiro smiled at Keith. “I know you’re not a jewelry person, but it’s something you might need sometimes. To hold this, when you don’t want to have it on your finger.” He slid off the loveseat to the floor, putting one knee down as he reached into the pocket of his hoodie.

As the others began gasping in realization, Keith’s mouth dropped open. He snatched the gift bag that Pidge had set in front of Shiro and darted to the presents, fishing out one of the largest boxes in the pile.

A babble of confusion rose, except for Lance. He began cackling with laughter as Keith set the box in front of a bewildered Shiro.

“Keith? What is it?”

Keith swiped at his eyes and gestured. “Just open it.”

Lance’s laughter grew louder and Keith glared at him. “I’m going to kill you and feed you to Santa’s reindeer for convincing me this was a good idea.”

When Shiro didn’t move, Keith started pulling at the wrapping. “Please, Shiro?”

Together they tore the paper from the top of the box and opened it. Shiro began digging through mounds of tissue paper, searching for whatever was hidden inside. Matt had picked up on what was happening and jumped over his parents to get a good angle for recording on his tablet.

Shiro finally found something small and hard buried in the paper. When he realized the shape of what he was touching, his gaze flew back up to Keith’s half-eager, half-fearful expression.

He freed the jewelry box from the tissue, and stared at it with a growing, disbelieving grin. He pulled a similar box from his pocket and held it up. As their friends began cheering and clapping, Shiro put the box he’d unwrapped in Keith’s hand. “Should we try to do this properly?”

“Wait!” Pidge yelled. “On the count of three, everyone! One, two, three!”

As everyone shouted the final number, Keith and Shiro opened the boxes at the same time, presenting the rings inside to the other. Keith’s jaw dropped at the gold band set with a line of tiny black diamonds and rubies. Shiro’s free hand covered his mouth when he saw the smooth black band with a diamond-dust pattern. “Keith…”

“The metal’s called tzildaril. My mom came across it on a mission and told me about it after I told her I was gonna—”

“Hey, loverboys, neither of you have actually popped the question!” Lance called out. Allura elbowed him in the ribs.

“He’s right, though! You gotta ask!” Hunk chimed in.

Shiro reached up and took Keith’s free hand, tugging him down to kneel with him. “Keith, I had a whole speech prepared, but I can’t focus enough right now to get it out. But it was all details. The essentials are that I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”

Keith reached over to wipe away the tears gathering in Shiro’s eyes, ignoring that he was also crying. “You know the answer, Shiro. You know how much I love you. You’ve seen how far I’ll go to keep you safe and happy. I’m the one who keeps doubting that I’m worthy of you, but Lance there convinced me to ask in front of everyone: will you marry me?”

“Of course, Keith! You know there’s no other person in the universe for me. No _better_ person for me.”

Whatever response to that Keith might have made was drowned out as everyone around them began clapping. With a glance at their appreciative audience, Shiro shrugged his shoulders and gave Keith a helpless smile before pulling him into his arms. Left to their own devices, they might have clung together, kissing each other’s tears away, but Matt shouted from behind his tablet, “Get those rings on already!”

They fumbled slightly with the boxes, hands trembling as each slid a ring onto the other’s finger. As their friends burst into a new round of cheering, Sam and Colleen dashed into their kitchen and returned with bottles of champagne and a tray of glasses. They toasted Shiro and Keith, taking turns hugging and congratulating them.

A short while later, the rest of the advance presents unwrapped and the champagne gone, Shiro sat with Keith under the makeshift Christmas tree. Keith was playing with his ring, twisting it to watch the inlaid gems sparkle in the lights. Shiro pulled him closer and dove in to kiss his neck. “Can’t wait to be married to you.”

Keith beamed and turned to meet his lips. “Me either. Glad we were on the same page.”


	4. Respite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of ficlets written for the Sheith Holiday Card Exchange 2019 and the cards I sent to my Sheith fandom friends. Many thanks to Feit for managing the card exchange!
> 
> Not beta'ed at the time of posting. Each story will be updated once Latart has had the opportunity to polish them up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4: The recipient said they loved BoM Keith and Shiro with his black & white hair, so I decided to insert something into the last episodes of S2.

#

Shiro paced along the bridge, his glance scanning the various screens and their readouts constantly. Allura stood at the ready, waiting for the call to open a wormhole and let the Blade of Marmora ship through.

He trusted Kolivan. He trusted that the Blade had the same goals as the Voltron team. But the last time Keith had been alone among its members, they had attacked him relentlessly in waves and then assaulted his mind. And Shiro didn’t trust that a magically-expanding knife was the only key to entry into their ranks. He was sure this mission of Kolivan’s, where he had firmly requested Keith’s presence, was a second test of some kind.

But they needed the Blade. With their spies already in place, the members of Voltron and the Alteans could come up with a plan to take down Zarkon once and for all. Once they’d cut off the head of the snake, they could start taking apart the body.

And maybe Shiro would be able to sit down with Keith and thrash out this unspoken thing that had developed between them.

A beep sounded at the same time that Coran spoke. “Princess, Kolivan is hailing us.”

Allura waved a hand and Kolivan appeared on a new screen. “We are ready to bring you in.” She still spoke stiffly, the wariness evident in her posture.

“Thank you, but we request that you come to our coordinates, Princess.”

“Why? That wasn’t part of the plan!” Allura’s voice rose almost to a shrill.

“Keith has requested it. He said there’s something here that the rest of the paladins would enjoy seeing. He said to tell Shiro it would be good to be back, even for a short while.”

Shiro straightened at the familiar phrase, one Keith had uttered every time Shiro returned from a mission or offsite training in the run-up to Kerberos. He turned to Allura, his gaze sweeping around the rest of the team. They had perked up, wondering what Keith wanted them to see.

“It’s all right, Princess. It doesn’t make much difference either way.”

Allura glared, but opened the wormhole.

Once through, the Castle flew toward the signal from the Blade ship. Kolivan opened the comms once more. “Keith suggests you all fly the Blue Lion down to meet him.”

Allura had hit her limit. “Certainly not. We’ll land the castle in his vicinity.”

She brought the castleship into a very white plain, close to a forest of dark blue trees that also had dustings of white. Shiro and the other paladins headed for the main entrance and waited as the large doors slid open.

Shiro only had time to register the bright white landscape under a pair of shining moons before something exploded in his face. Something wet and cold and fluffy.

Snow?

He wiped his face, hearing the mingled cries of glee from Pidge and Hunk and an affronted yell from Lance. “Hey, mullet! What are you doing attacking your own team?”

Shiro shook the last of the wetness from his hair and looked around, smiling in astonishment. Keith was at the edge of the forest, throwing snowballs from a large stockpile as he kept cover behind a tree. Pidge was already crouching behind Hunk, rolling up a snowball of her own to return fire.

Keith waved at him and Shiro paused to stare. Keith was not in his paladin armor, but a uniform like the Blades wore. His utility belt was slung across his narrow hips, holding his blade at the small of his back. The uniform had a hood like the other Blades, framing Keith’s face as he grinned and fired at Lance again.

Shiro jogged toward him and Keith let him get close. “Join my team?”

Shiro laughed and grabbed a snowball from the pile to launch at Hunk. “You were right. This is amazing! I can’t remember the last time I touched actual snow.”

“There’s more, if you want to come see.” Keith looked around and saw that Pidge and Hunk were now double-teaming Lance while Coran and Allura stood in the entrance and watched in bemusement.

Shiro nodded and Keith grabbed his hand, leading him deeper into the woods. He tried not to notice that Keith was holding his Galra hand and apparently completely unaware of it.

A short way in, Shiro realized that they weren’t losing any vision due to the dark trees around them. They rounded one more fat bush, and Shiro gasped.

There was a tree in the center of a tiny clearing. It was a strange navy-blue color, but the long branches were covered in small spikes of leaves that looked very like pine needles. Tiny floating sparks drifted in the branches.

“I think they’re some kind of insect,” Keith whispered.

Shiro nodded to show Keith he’d heard, drinking in the illusion of a Christmas tree full of lights on a snowy night. He squeezed Keith’s hand and felt a warm glow when Keith squeezed back. He remembered holidays past, when Keith’s fall birthday would start the round of celebrations in the slide toward the end of the year. Halloweens, where Keith had been Shiro’s willing accomplice in putting together costumes because Adam felt such antics were lame. Thanksgivings where Shiro would stay on base with Keith because while Adam was still welcome at his home, his parents disapproved of his career choices and, as his flight partner, Shiro was a walking reminder of those choices. Christmases and the trading of small gifts, because Keith’s stipend as a student only went so far. New Year’s and parties, Keith sneaking sips of alcohol from Shiro’s glass...until that last year when Matt had cheerfully helped Keith get fully drunk and Keith had kissed Shiro at midnight.

Shiro dragged himself from the memories, looking over at Keith who was still gazing at the tree, his eyes shining from the lights. He felt that jolt again, that he’d first felt when Keith had stoutly declared that Shiro was going to make it...and given that Keith had just used the Black Lion to drive away elephant-sized monsters, Shiro had allowed a tiny sliver of belief to take hold.

Keith would always look out for him.

And, Shiro realized with a rush of emotion, he wanted to do the same for Keith.

He wanted to pull Keith close, kiss him properly without the hazy influence of booze. But not yet. Not while they had such obstacles in front of them.

But he did tug with the hand still clasped with Keith’s. Keith looked up and Shiro held out his other hand in invitation.

Keith smiled and let Shiro pull them together, bringing up their free arms to embrace one another tightly. Keith tucked his head into Shiro’s shoulder and Shiro pressed his cheek to the hood covering Keith’s hair. He took one more look at the shimmering tree, then sighed as Lance began yelling for them in the distance.

“We’d better go. Got a long road before us.”

Keith nodded. “But at least we’re taking it together.”


	5. Coming Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of ficlets written for the Sheith Holiday Card Exchange 2019 and the cards I sent to my Sheith fandom friends. Many thanks to Feit for managing the card exchange!
> 
> Not beta'ed at the time of posting. Each story will be updated once Latart has had the opportunity to polish them up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5: The recipient likes domestic Sheith but was up for whatever.

When three hours had passed and Comet had not knocked down the tree, Keith dared to hope.

The previous four years, in the Garrison’s standard-issue shareded quarters, they hadn’t been able to keep a tree up because the wolf, by now the size of a horse, was both unable to move around it and also very enamored of the scent. Keith had been able to teach him to shove his nose only so far into the branches, but nothing could be done to shrink Comet back down to the size he had been when the other paladins tried to name him “Kosmo”. Keith still got a grin every time he remembered Lance’s affronted yells when Comet brought him two pictures: one of Santa’s sleigh being pulled by reindeer and another of a comet streaking through space.

His wolf was smart enough to make double entendres.

His wolf also had room to move now. Shiro and Keith had finally taken Krolia up on her offer and let her finance the building of a new, spacious house on the land where Keith’s childhood home had been. The three of them had worked together for long hours, creating a house full of high-ceilinged open spaces that would answer many of their needs as well as those of the most likely guests. The official housewarming had been over the Fourth of July holiday and now they were preparing for their first Christmas in their very own home.

A nine-foot tree stood in front of the French doors, sparkling with white lights and looking dramatic against the clouds streaked with sunset colors. Comet was sprawled out on the floor in front of the giant fireplace. Keith put the boxes of ornaments on the low table in front of a sectional sofa that was luxuriously long enough for even Kolivan to stretch out.

He was climbing down the stepladder to pick up more ornaments for the top part of the tree when Shiro came in, arms full of groceries. Keith leapt lightly to the floor and crossed to take some of the burden, giving Shiro a quick kiss in greeting.

“Did you find everything Hunk wanted?”

“Most of it. I texted him about the things I couldn’t find.”

Comet lifted his head, his tail thumping against the floor, and Shiro laughed and dug out a box of the spice-dusted crackers that the wolf loved. He grabbed a plate, dumped a handful of crackers on it, and brought it over. Comet snuffled at his face before bending down to his snack.

Shiro stood next to the tree for a moment, running a hand along a branch and inhaling deeply of the pine scent. “Want some help?”

Keith finished stowing the perishables in the refrigerator and glanced up. “Sure. I was working from the top down. Just make sure that obnoxious flamingo from Lance and Allura is easy to see and easy to remove when they go.”

He heard Shiro chuckle as he placed the ornament in question, then added others. Keith crossed to take Comet’s empty plate back to the kitchen, then came back to look over the remaining ornaments. “Where’s the star?”

Shiro pointed to the end table. “I think it’s there?”

Keith looked and yes, there was the simple silver star with gold filigree scrolling all over it. There was also a small black velvet box that hadn’t been there before.

“Shiro? What’s this?”

Shiro looked over at him and smiled. “You could open it and see.”

Keith’s heartbeat sped up as he picked up the box and opened it. Inside was a ring, slim and sleek with the same sheen as his blade. Because he was afraid to consider what it meant, he focused on the details.

“Luxite?”

Shiro nodded as he came to stand in front of Keith. He took the box and lifted the ring out. “Krolia helped me find some scraps of old armor that didn’t have any real value and could be melted down. It seemed appropriate.” He dropped the box on the table, then took Keith’s hand and knelt. “You and I have been through so much together, and I am so grateful every day that we’ve found a safe harbor for ourselves. I like to think that this is the last step, the final link to show that we belong to one another in this or any other universe.” He swallowed and looked up. “Will you marry me, Keith?”

Keith needed air. Air was required to speak and at that moment he couldn’t form words. He felt tears gathering and hoped desperately that Shiro would be able to read them correctly.

A familiar sizzle in the air was his only warning as Comet appeared behind him and shouldered him forward. Shiro caught him with a surprised laugh, and that was enough to jolt Keith into speaking.

“Yes, Shiro! Of course yes. There’s no one else in this or any universe for me.”

Shiro slid the ring onto his finger and kissed it. “Merry Christmas, baby.”

“Merry Christmas, Shiro.”


	6. The Obligatory Hogwarts AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of ficlets written for the Sheith Holiday Card Exchange 2019 and the cards I sent to my Sheith fandom friends. Many thanks to Feit for managing the card exchange!
> 
> Not beta'ed at the time of posting. Each story will be updated once Latart has had the opportunity to polish them up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6: The recipient mentioned winter fluff, getting together, and magical AUs, so I decided to try my first Hogwarts AU in the VLD fandom.

The snow was coming down in a picture-perfect Christmas Eve scene outside the window, but Keith ignored it in favor of the essay before him. Ninety per cent of the student population had gone home for the winter holidays and he had a rare opportunity to get ahead in his studies before Quidditch practice resumed.

If he kept telling himself that, maybe it would lessen the ache he felt every time he thought of all the other students with their families. He loved his mother dearly but at times like these hated the fact that she was an Ancient Runes specialist of such immense knowledge that she could be summoned at any time to almost anywhere to assist with a new archaeological or scholarly discovery. Such as being sent to Japan over Christmas.

It was eerily quiet in the library with no other students scratching quills on parchment or shoving books across tables. There was no Pidge and Hunk whispering at one another over the latest theories. No Lance pestering to see Keith’s work. No Allura humming to herself. The only sounds were those that Keith made and the snow hissing against the glass. With luck he would finish gathering the research he needed before dinner and could write Professor Slav’s Arithmancy essay up in the Gryffindor common room tonight.

He had just made the last note from the book before him, shutting it with a satisfied thump that earned him a glare from Madam Honerva, the librarian, when something tickled his ear. He swatted at it with his Seeker reflexes, knocking it away, and looked up.

A paper airplane was floating in the air near his head, ribbons of red, gold, green, and silver hanging from it. One of the ribbons reached out toward him again as another curled up in a beckoning gesture. Keith frowned at it. After a minute, the plane dove at his face. He ducked, but one ribbon wrapped itself around his ear and another snagged a lock of his hair. They began tugging at him, not enough to really hurt but very insistently.

Keith gave a smothered “Ow!” and batted at the plane again. “I’ll come, I’ll come, let me get my things.”

The ribbons let go, one of them caressing his cheek as it did so. For an instant Keith dared to hope that his mother had gotten away from her assignment and was here to collect him. But this wasn’t her style. The pranksters of his circle were Lance, Pidge, and her brother Matt. All three were gone from the castle. But there were one or two students from Macidus’ little gang that might be tempted to have a go at him. It felt very unlikely that they would use a paper airplane to try and lure him to a place away from any portraits that served as hall monitors. He packed his satchel but kept his wand out and ready.

The airplane led him through the empty corridors and downstairs toward the dungeon levels. It looped as if flying for the joy of it, making Keith miss his broom. It would be weeks before Headmaster Coran permitted any flying, given the weather.

They halted in front of the empty wall that Keith knew to be the hidden entrance to Slytherin. The plane bobbed in the air and Keith shook his head. “It’s no use. I don’t have the password.”

The plane flattened itself and slipped into a gap between two bricks. Keith rolled his eyes. “Yeah, can’t do that yet. Fifth-year curriculum is a bit lacking in advanced self-transfiguration.”

To his surprise, a section of the wall slid open. Gripping his wand tighter, Keith moved forward slowly into the Slytherin common room.

He had heard how it was dark and ominous, with windows looking out into the depths of the lake. But instead he found a blaze of light from hundreds of bewitched candles, garlands of holly with bright red berries everywhere, and several hearths with welcoming warm fires. Each corner of the room had a tree filled with sparkling ornaments.

“Kind of ridiculous, given that there’s maybe five of us still here, huh?”

Keith whirled at the familiar voice. “Shiro!”

His best friend in the school was sitting on a carpet in front of one of the fires, next to a low table. Keith could see a plate of sweets, two mugs charmed to keep the chocolate inside hot, and a pair of gaily-wrapped gifts. The paper plane flew over to settle on the smaller gift, the ribbons rearranging themselves into a bow.

“What’s all this?”

Shiro grinned and held out a hand toward Keith. “This is me giving you your presents now instead of having them delivered to your room in the morning where I can’t watch you open them.”

Keith stowed his wand, laid his satchel on an empty chair, and sat down with Shiro. “And what am I supposed to do? I’ve already given your gifts to the elves to deliver.”

“Call one of them to fetch them? Or I’ll bring them down to breakfast if you like.”

Keith nodded at that. He was still uncertain over his choices, a novel from an author he knew Shiro liked and an enormous scarf of the softest yarn in Slytherin colours. Shiro pushed the smaller gift toward him.

The ribbons of the bow unlaced and the paper airplane unfolded, revealing a note. _Keith, I hope you and your mum will be able to put these to good use. Happy Christmas, Shiro_

Keith unwrapped and opened the box to find a hand-sized mirror. His gaze flew up to Shiro’s face. “Is this…?”

“It is. A Marauder communication mirror, straight from Weasley Wizard Wheezes. Your mum has the other one. We just need a drop of your blood in the space in the frame here and you’ll be able to talk to one another no matter where you two are.”

_“Shiro,”_ Keith gasped. He knew that these mirrors were costly and adding the charm work to tie them specifically to one person made them even more so. “You didn’t have to do this!”

“I know.” Shiro laid one hand over Keith’s, still clutching the mirror. “And I also know how much you miss her. You’ve still got two and a half years of schooling left and she travels so much. I thought these could help.”

Keith pulled out his wand, ready to cast the gentlest of piercing charms on his finger for the necessary blood, but Shiro grabbed his other hand. “Hey, let’s do it later. It’s two in the morning in Japan, so you shouldn’t try it until later tonight anyway.”

Keith tried not to pout and knew Shiro had seen through him anyway when he let go of him to lay the second gift in his lap. Keith pulled the wrapping paper away and opened the box.

His mouth dropped open at the sight of one of Shiro’s practice jerseys, neatly folded to show his name above the large number one showing his keeper position.

It was a rule, unwritten but never broken, that the only person who might wear your practice jersey other than yourself was the person you were dating.

“Shiro?” he whispered. He was afraid to move, afraid to touch the heavy viridian wool, afraid to look up and see Shiro’s face dissolve into wakefulness, because this _had_ to be a dream. He wasn’t in the Slytherin common room at all. He fell asleep over his notes in the library and any minute Madame Honerva would come wake him up.

Shiro scooted forward, lifting the jersey out of the box and putting it in Keith’s hands. “Keith, I like you a lot. I mean a _lot._ I’d consider it an honour if you wore my jersey to the next match...to the next Hogsmeade weekend…” He looked down for a moment and back up with an incredibly bashful smile. “To dinner tonight?”

Keith swallowed hard but couldn’t get the lump out of his throat. He nodded frantically and Shiro leaned forward to wrap his arms around him. Not letting himself stop to think, he lifted his face to Shiro’s and pressed a kiss to his lips. It was Shiro’s turn to freeze briefly, before he relaxed and returned it with enthusiasm.

There was a yell and a thump from down one of the dormitory hallways, reminding them that they weren’t completely alone. They broke apart, laughing quietly, and Shiro helped Keith pull the jersey on over his own sweater and roll the sleeves up, then leaned in for another kiss.

“Happy Christmas, Keith.”

“Happy Christmas, Shiro.”


	7. Skating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of ficlets written for the Sheith Holiday Card Exchange 2019 and the cards I sent to my Sheith fandom friends. Many thanks to Feit for managing the card exchange!
> 
> Not beta'ed at the time of posting. Each story will be updated once Latart has had the opportunity to polish them up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 7: This recipient simply asked for "winter-themed", so I went with ice skating!

Keith held Shiro’s hands, supporting him as he stepped carefully onto the rink, feeling the give as the skates slid across the ice. Shiro’s grip tightened and Keith braced as best he could in his own skates. He might have grown over the years, but Shiro was still taller and heavier than him.

Right on cue, Keith had to steady both of them as one of Shiro’s skates got out from under him. His leg shot toward the front and he almost landed on the other knee before Keith caught him, bent forward slightly because Shiro had wrapped both arms around Keith’s neck.

Shiro chuckled as Keith helped him stand, shaking snowflakes from his hair. “How is it again that a desert boy like you knows how to do this?”

Keith shrugged, propelling himself backwards very slowly to pull Shiro a bit further from the railing. “I stayed with a foster family for a while before I entered middle school, maybe seven or eight months? Their oldest kid played hockey so the younger one and I were dragged along to the rink while he practiced. I always finished my homework first, so they’d get me a pair of skates and let me fool around on the beginner rink.”

Even though Shiro had a deathgrip on his hands, Keith felt them tighten slightly at the mention of foster families. Other than his mom (thanks to two years on a space whale), Shiro was still the only person who knew about Keith’s checkered childhood. “So they were one of the good ones?”

Keith sped up, just a little, as he started telling the story to distract Shiro from overthinking his balance. “Yeah, they were.They even started the adoption process.” He paused, because the memory still hurt.

But Shiro had forgotten to think about keeping his ankles stiff and was gliding easily as Keith began leading him around the rink. “What happened?”

“The wife was offered a major promotion, but it meant pulling up stakes and moving abroad. It was the worst possible timing and everything just fell apart.” Keith slowed down without realizing.

Shiro straightened up and drifted closer, where they were almost chest to chest with their hands between. “Oh, Keith, I am so sorry.”

Keith gave another shrug. “It is what it is. If they had adopted me, I would have grown up in another country. I wouldn’t have been in that school the day you came to talk about the Garrison.”

Shiro let go of Keith with one hand, raising it to caress his cheek. “I apologize for the selfishness of it, but I’m glad things turned out this way.”

Keith gave Shiro a small smile, admiring how the holiday lights strung around the trees surrounding the rink reflected in his silver hair. “Me, too.” He turned to face forward, drawing Shiro alongside him. The heavy prosthesis dwarfed his own arm but the warm fingers were intertwined with his.

But the second he shifted, Shiro’s skates began moving in opposite directions. He went down faster than Keith could catch him and Keith laughed, still upright and holding onto the prosthetic hand that hadn’t moved.

Shiro grumbled as Keith held out his other hand and helped him up. “I do not understand how balancing on razor-thin blades in order to move is supposed to be  _ fun. _ ”

“You can do it, Shiro. After all, you didn’t start out instantly able to fight hand-to-hand or fly a plane. You learned what to do and mastered it.” Keith glanced at him, knowing his eyes were dancing with anticipation. “I think the concept is  _ patience… _ ”

Shiro stared at him, affronted, before he burst into laughter. “You are still such a brat.”

“And you’re still too much of a perfectionist. This is new. This is asking different things from your body. Just start with keeping both blades going in the same direction while I lead you and get a feel for what’s needed.”

They began again with Keith skating backwards to lead Shiro, then side by side with Keith holding to Shiro’s flesh hand for better control. Finally Shiro took a lap on his own, his stride far too short for his height, and a second lap with a little more confidence. At that point Keith took off to let Shiro try without him hovering. He moved toward the center with the more experienced skaters.

Shiro coasted to the railing and paused, looking for Keith. He was skating fast, weaving through other skaters with the same impossible grace he showed when flying. At one point he slowed slightly, marking a clear path, then sped up. Some other skaters seemed to realize what he was about to do and paused to watch.

After skating several meters forward, Keith switched on a dime to face backwards, then crouched and vaulted into the air, spinning a couple of times before landing easily and skimming on. Several of the other skaters clapped for him and his smile was blinding as he spotted Shiro and sailed toward him.

Shiro braced against the railing and held out his arms to catch Keith in a hug. They kissed soundly until Keith broke off to bump noses with him.

“So, when was I going to learn that my boyfriend has Olympic skater moves?”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Please. That was a double toe loop, one of the easiest jumps there is. I kind of just worked it out from watching other skaters do it. And I don’t think I landed a triple of any kind of jump more than a few times.”

Shiro shook his head and pulled Keith close again. “You figured out how to skate and how to jump by yourself and you remembered it well enough to do it fifteen years later. Sorry, that means you’re brilliant.”

Keith’s cheeks, already pink from the chilly air, deepened to red and he buried his face in Shiro’s sweater to hide. Shiro chuckled and kissed the top of Keith’s head. “Want to show me some more of your moves?”

“No.” Keith’s voice was muffled as he spoke into Shiro’s chest. “I want to skate with my boyfriend.” He emerged, tilting his face up for one more kiss, and tugged Shiro out onto the ice once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed these little holiday stories.


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